The doors opened with only a solidary figure appeared. When he recognized the person, Mal's heart filled with hope. She'd come, just like he knew she would.

"A..," he'd started before she cut him off.

"What do you want, Mal? It's been three days and you're still here."

"I had to come and Morozov wouldn't let me..."

"I know, everyone knows. You planted yourself in driveway and it's making some trouble for the servants."

"Alina, I severed the bond with Ruby. I'm free."

"What?"

"I came immediately. We can go back to Orstev Hall and be mated and married right away."

"I can't believe how stupid I was."

"What do mean? Did you hear me? We can be mated and married."

"I'm already both of those things and I have no intention of breaking them."

"Alina, you be serious. I've been waiting for the last three days to tell you the great news."

"Great news for who? Did you seriously think I would take you back?"

"Alina, we're in love and meant to be. You're my true north."

"Funny, was I your true north when you were frequently brothels or when you marked Ruby on our wedding day?"

"I.."

"No, I don't want to hear it. I have no intention of going anywhere with you. I'm in the middle of my honeymoon!! I have spent the better part of the last week in bed with my husband! My husband and I have been doing nothing but strengthening our bond! Now leave Kirigan Abbey or I will let my men return you to the Hall. I guarantee you that you'll be in great pain when they dump you at the door."

"You'd really pick him over me? We've been engaged for most of our lives."

"That engagement didn't stop you from humiliating me for years. I made excuse after excuse, I ignored all the whispers and pity looks, and even gave you money pay off god knows what."

Alina notice a quick flash of emotion at the mention of money.

"Is that why you're here? Did your parents threaten to cut you off?"

Mal was barely able to stutter a denial before Alina cut him off.

"I wondered when they finally see you, it's just too bad that it took this for that to happen."

"Lina, come on."

"That is Lady Morozova to you. Now leave and never come back."

The door opened and someone walked straight toward them.

'Him.' Mal thought bitterly.

His cousin, Aleksander, who alway had a fondness for Alina. The freak with shadow powers that helped him rise through the ranks of the military to general young while Mal only made it to lieutenant and finished as just a tracker. He'd ridden in and stolen Alina away before he could even explain what happened with Ruby. He was still going to take Alina as a consort, just a second one.

"Cousin, I believe that my wife has told you to leave twice. I won't ask you so kindly."

"This is between me and Alina."

"Lady Morozova," Alina hissed as she leaned into her husband.

Aleksander nodded and two of his men rushed to grab Mal. They dragged him a shabby carriage as he kicked and screamed for Alina. All his demands to be releases and sad attempts at bribes were ignored.

I imagine him stopping whatever he was doing and staring blankly into space, confused like this:

One of the tropes in Romantasy that really bothers me and never quite sat right with me is the "Fated Mates" trope and the idea of mating bonds as a whole. I don't necessarily dislike the Fated Mates concept itself, its the typical execution of it in most books today that I despise.

When executed correctly, its a beautiful narrative device to enhance the story and the romantic scenes. When executed incorrectly, it creates cognitive dissonance for most discerning readers, because we are unable to reconcile it with the rest of the narrative. In this instance, the mating bond, instead of enhancing the story and the romantic scenes, becomes the focus and the driver of them. It is the catalyst for the romantic leads to get involved in the first place. It feels like an assault on free will.

For a fated mates trope to be impactful, and avoid this cognitive dissonance, the reader has to believe the people involved are #1 compatible #2 would like eachother as people even without the bond. When these two premises are not there, it's hard to believe that they can live happily ever after when these people would never be together if it wasn't for the bond.

This is why I much prefer the "soulmates" trope more than the mating bond. Because a soulmate is not a biological imperative to mate, its a calling to find the person that compliments you. Your equal in every way. It is a lot more powerful for two people to find each other, have an inexplicable connection despite whatever circumstances separate them, and fall in love regardless. Then when the two people accept that love equally, only then, the soul bond is solidified and their fates are merged forever.

In essence, it is more compelling for love to create the bond or solidify it, than the bond being the driver.

Hypotheticals (immerse yourself)

Hypothetical 1: picture the person that you hate/dislike with all your being. See them in your head, smiling/smirking at you. Now picture a deity picking them as your mate, the person you're stuck with for the rest of your life. You have no say in it, you feel the urge to mate with them, but you hate this person and these feelings make you miserable because there is nothing you like about that person. Forget "enemies to lovers" (separate topic), you just don't click with this person, they are decent, but not your cup of tea is all. Doesn't that scream unfairness, free will trampling, the deity is messing with you, you would be looking for ways to break this bond, because there is just no way!

Hypothetical 2: picture someone that your family, your religion, or your laws are telling you should not be together with you. But you can't help it, because they are sweet, they listen, they see you and treat you like a treasure. This person would do anything for you, including risk their life for you. In turn, you can't help but be drawn to them, you seek any chance to be near them, to touch, and connect with them. This is your soulmate, the one person who you want to spend the rest of your life with and the best part is that they return your feelings... on your wedding night your bond solidifies because your love forged that bond.

Conclusion:

I wish I could, he answered silently. But sleep so rarely found him these days.

Too many razor-sharp thoughts sliced him any time he grew still long enough for them to strike. Too many wants and needs left his skin overheated and pulling taut across his bones. So he slept only when his body gave out, and even then only for a few hours.’

He’s not waiting for anyone. He’s not hoping for a rendezvous. He can’t sleep: ‘Azriel surveyed the empty family room, presents and ribbons littering the furniture. Cassian and Nesta hadn't reappeared down-stairs, though that came as no surprise. He was elated for his brother, and yet ...

Azriel couldn't stop it. The envy in his chest. Of Cassian, and Rhys.

He knew he'd be swallowed by it if he went up to his bedroom, so he'd remained down here by the dying light of the fire.

But even the silence weighed too heavily, and though the shadows kept him company, as they always had, as they always would, he found himself leaving the room. Entering the foyer.’

Then Az sees and hangs with Gwyn: ‘Azriel dipped his head in a sketch of a bow, something restless settling in him. Even his shadows had calmed. As if content to lounge on his shoulders and watch.

But - sleep. He needed to at least attempt to get some.’

awwww thank you!! I'm glad my little blog could help you a little!

there's always more to learn for everyone, including myself. I for one have never heard anyone in the context of omegaverse use the word estrus rather than heat, but I'll assume it's essentially the same thing? maybe it's more popular in original omegaverse stories which I don't read?

also, forgive me, I realized I've never talked about breaking bonds before, so I'm gonna use this to talk about it in general, though I promise I'll also talk about your scenario!

so, first off.

Can bonds be broken?

the answer is generally, yes, unless they can't be broken. some stories do have genuinely unbreakable bonds. others require one partner to die for the bond to break. but it's definitely also possible in many stories to break bonds. of course, this mostly depends on the author's taste, but as a rule of thumb, the easier it is to establish a bond, and the less deep it runs, the easier it is to break the bond.

do you need to have found your one fated true mate, matched your cycles, and both be emotionally willing to have a bond for it to be established, and then it connects your souls to the point you can communicate telepathically? - much more likely to be unbreakable.

all you need is a bite in the right spot from an aroused alpha, which will attune your scents to each other and mark you for others as taken, but not much else? - pretty likely to be be broken without much effort.

which makes sense, of course. if any random stranger can force an omega into a soulbond for life on a whim, most people will feel like they're reading a horror story no matter how happy the couple in the story or how kinky the sex. of course, some stories are meant to be horror stories, and distrub you with how society glorifies and romanticizes something so evidently terrible, but that's not really what most stories want to go for.

How do you break a bond?

assuming you can, there are a couple options:

one partner dies. it's often (but not necessarily!) an automatic end to the bond. sometimes it is the only way, though it kind of encourages murder if you want your characters to re-bond so perhaps it might be best for the peace of your society if it isn't the only option

too much time spent apart. this posits that a bond needs to be kept alive to remain, though usually not through multiple bites, more through closeness, scenting, and sex. how much time you need to spend apart varies by story, and even within stories based on how deep the bond ran/how long you've had it. a bond formed through a one night stand that neither actually wanted might be broken with a few weeks apart, while bonds you've had for years will take years to fade. often, this method has the downside of separation sickness, especially for fresh bonds. the body will act like it needs the other partner, and urge the character to get back to their mate, often giving them fevers, dizzyness, nausea, and whatever else the author feels like torturing their character with.

extreme rejection. this is usually faster, and might be painful. if one partner is (or feels) fundamentally rejected by their mate, the bond may break on the spot/within a matter of hours. this generally requires some big dramatic moment - caught the mate cheating, the mate got physically abusive, a screaming match and dramatic breakup over what to do with the pup they didn't plan for, something like that.

new mating bite over the old one. nice and simple, if a new alpha bites the mated omega, the new bond will override the old one. it might have caveats in order to work like the old alpha having been absent for a while, or the new alpha having to bite multiple times. if this is the only way bond breaking can happen in your story, consider the implications of never being able to be bond-free after you've bonded once - after all, you can bond someone else, but you can't return to your unbonded state.

medical procedures. this is a bit rarer, but I've seen it a couple times. it could be as difficult as having to surgically remove the bond mark and taking the mating gland with it, eliminating any chance of rebonding. or it can be as easy as taking a couple pills filled with mixed alpha hormones (for omegas) or mixed omega hormones (for alphas) to confuse the body and let it believe there's no one specific mate it should be attuned to, which then slowly but usually painlessly lets the bond fade.

magic. this one is basically only an option if there's already magic in the story. still, if the bond is something of the more supernatural kind, a true bond between souls rather than pheromones or hormones or some component in alpha saliva reacting with something in the omega's mating gland, it would make more sense for the breaking of the bond to be done through a ritual or other magical means. divorce mage could be a lucrative, stable job (though I've never seen that anywhere lmao).

Does the old bond influence the new one?

from what I've seen, mostly no. sure, it might take a bit longer for the new bond to form if the old one is still there (or it might not), but once the new bond is firmly established, the consensus is mostly that the old bond in entirely erased, whether that's something the character wants or not. it's a fresh start, and will act exactly like the first bond did.

however, there aren't any real rules in omegaverse, so if one wanted to, they could let the old bond linger. ready to reactivate some old yearning if the old partner is close by, forever reminding the character of the old mate's scent and how it used to make them feel. really, it's just a question if you want your character to have that clean cut and be able to start over (with a hopefully better partner) or if you want them to suffer and never be able to fully forget their previous mate.

but also.

What about pack/parental bonds?

now, some omegaverse stories don't feature packs or any kind of bond beyond mating bonds. in which case, there is of course nothing to worry about. however, if the mated pair is part of a larger pack, whether that's platonic or romantic, you'd have to consider how their bond breaking would affect the group, or if it's even possible without one (or both) being ousted from the pack entirely.

while far from always, kids in omegaverse can share parental bonds that make them closer to their parents and let them instinctively feel safe around them and be attuned to their scents. these bonds may automatically be in place for both biological parents when the kid is born, though a lot of the time, it is only for the omega parent, since they were the one carrying the child nine months. in that case though, parental bonds can also be formed after birth, and generally happen with whatever adult takes care of the baby, whether they're biologically related to the child or not. if a kid has these bonds with parents, and the parents' mating bond breaks, it may not be great for the kid, especially if the parents' scents change. though, on the flipside of this, if whichever parent they're staying with re-bonds, that could speed up a parental bond forming with the step parent.

Mates and mating bonds are among one of the tropes I hate the most in literature, because more often than not, it’s so poorly written that it takes away all agency from the Characters who share the bond. It’s also painted as rare, and yet everyone and their mother has one.

Unethical mating bonds between 20 and 500+ year olds just don’t do it for me. I can understand the fantasy of having someone who is ordained by the universe to be yours, but at that point just make it common. Don’t paint it as some rare thing when it’s not.

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Teen Wolf (TV), Sterek - Fandom Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski Characters: Derek Hale, Stiles Stilinski, Sheriff Stilinski (Teen Wolf) Additional Tags: Mating Bond, Getting Together Summary: